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MARIGOT – The waterfront boulevard in Marigot is not what it used to be anymore after Hurricane Irma hit the place. Now it appears that two of the main attractions on this stretch – the French bakeries Sarafina and Le Divin – will not be rebuilt.

Le Divin has been completely obliterated by the monster hurricane and the debris is still exactly where it landed on September 6. Attempts to locate its owner, and to make arrangements for a cleanup, reportedly have failed so far.

OYSTER POND/SIMPSON BAY — After the granting of permits to salvage operators active in Oyster Pond the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has started to monitor wreck removal for any environmental effects; “We have started to monitor and assist where possible in salvage operations that were granted their permit by Government for activities in Oyster Pond,” commented Tadzio Bervoets, Nature Foundation Manager, “but we are still waiting for the approval of large-scale salvage in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which is causing us some concern.”

Although the Foundation has been involved in some preliminary work in the Simpson Bay Lagoon it is estimated that some 30,000 gallons of fuel and wastewater is being leaked into the environment; “While we understand the need to have everything in place we are urging for salvage works to start soon before the situation gets worse. Our request for assistance has largely been unanswered and we now are dependent on commercial salvage operators to clean up the wrecks. We are therefore urging that all technicalities and requirements be handled and the necessary permits be fast-tracked,” continued Bervoets.

The Foundation has been ensuring that oil spill containment equipment is being properly used in the Oyster Pond area; “We are not salvagers and will have to leave technical aspects of salvaging to the experts, but from an environmental point of view we are there to ensure that the ecosystem isn’t impacted more than it has already been. That is why we are urging, not only for the environment but also for the economy, that large scale salvage works commence soon in the Simpson Bay Lagoon,” concluded Bervoets.

Top photo caption: “Vessel Being Salvaged in Oyster Pond”

Photo caption: “One of the vessels wrecked in the Simpson Bay Lagoon”

Photo caption: “Google Earth Image showing fuel being leaked from two major marinas in the Simpson Bay Lagoon”

GREAT BAY – The Summit Resort in Cupecoy is the first fatal victim of Hurricane Irma. After 44 years in business, the resort has definitively closed its doors. A bit further down the road on Cupecoy, the Ocean Club – scene of the most gruesome double murder in recent history, when the seriously disturbed Meyshane Johnson killed Thelma and Michael King on September 19, 2012 – is in such a bad shape that management has announced its closure until further notice.

Summit-owner Bruce Jakubovitz writes in a letter to his timeshare owners that there is “an enormous gap” between the estimated rebuilding costs and the limited insurance coverage and the limited revenue from timeshare and hotel operations.

Each timeshare-owner will receive a pro rata part of the insurance payment. “This is likely to be a low number given the sublimit imposed by our insurance carrier for damages caused by hurricanes,” Jakubovitz wrote.

The Summit Resort opened its doors 44 years ago, in 1973. This is how Jakubovitz describes the damages Hurricane Irma inflicted on his resort; “Some of the Summit’s buildings were flattened completely by the force of Hurricane Irma’s winds. All but one of the Summit’s two-story buildings had their second floors either partially or completely blown off. Our single-story buildings lost roofs and suffered other damage. The pool deck was completely blown away with pieces from it landing by our front entry gate. Our General Manager’s living quarters were destroyed as were the living quarters of our Head of Housekeeping. Our restaurant, bar, reception office, laundry facilities and maintenance building were each either destroyed or heavily damaged as well. There is not a single part of the Summit that has been spared from the destructive force of Hurricane Irma.”

When we visited the Summit Resort on Monday afternoon, general manager Evans was on site and she said that there is another component to the total destruction of the place. “After the hurricane we had about fifteen rooms that were in a reasonable shape. But then the looters came. They kicked in doors and took what they wanted. There was no police around.”

The plan is to clean up the debris. When that is done, the site will be fenced off. All employees have lost their job.

The Ocean Club has announced on its Facebook-page that the resort is closed until further notice and that members will be updated via email.

Photo caption: The Ocean Club in Cupecoy is severely damaged. Photo Hilbert Haar.

NEW YORK, NY (October 9, 2017) – After damages sustained during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose in September 2017, the Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) in Dutch St. Maarten will reopen to commercial flights on October 10, 2017. SXM is a critical airport for much of the Caribbean, and its return to active service will bring much-needed aid and tourism back to St. Maarten as well as neighboring islands.

Delta Airlines, Seaborne, Pawa Dominicana, Insel Air, and Winair will resume service at SXM on Oct. 10. Seaborne will be code sharing with American Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta. Additional airlines will announce their service in the coming days.

“While damages to our airport are extensive, we are incredibly pleased with the progress made to repair it,” said Director of Tourism Rolando Brison. “St. Maarten is both a friendly island and a resilient one, and we are excited to share our island with the world once again.”

The airport will reopen in a phased approach. Employees of SXM Airport and volunteers have worked tirelessly, their dedication resulting in the reopening of the airport’s two smaller terminals. The main terminal is currently under repair, and its reopening anticipated mid-2018.

“My friends, trust in the process,” said Minister of Tourism Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher in an official statement. “Adversity gives birth to opportunity and struggle builds character: St. Maarten will rise again, better and stronger. ”

Additional information about the airport and tourism recovery efforts will be released as soon as it becomes available.

Philipsburg — Ministry TEATT on Friday announced that the first arrivals at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) on October 10 and at Port St. Maarten on November 11, will be greeted by staff of both strategic ports and personnel of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in shirts with a clear message: St. Maarten is open for business. Or, to put it simple, “Yes, We’re Open! Several volunteers will also be present in the shirts.

The shirts depict an airplane for PJIA and a cruise ship for Port St. Maarten. Adorned in St. Maarten colors, the commemorative logo also features St. Maarten’s National bird the Brown Pelican, an outline of St. Maarten in the background, the latitude and longitude coordinates of St. Maarten and the hashtag #sxmstrong, made popular on social media in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. The October 10 and November 11 dates also form part of the logo. Finally, St. Maarten’s area code “721” is emboldened in the middle of a symbol of a hurricane.

Head of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Rolando Brison said the shirts are expressions of pride over the re-opening of St. Maarten and its world class ports in the wake of devastating storms. “We want to acknowledge the resilience of our businesses and our people by means of this logo, particularly to show that the cruise and aviation sectors are open despite lots of work ahead,” Brison said.

He said both sectors have a lot of work still to do, but the message about St. Maarten on the international stage has to change. “The narrative has to change. STB will be working diligently with our international marketing partners to let the world know that we are on or way back up,” he said.

Brison reminded that although hotel inventory is low, there are still properties that can accommodate guests and more are working hard to be back online soon. “Doesn’t matter how many people are on flights come Tuesday, the point is there are people coming to St. Maarten. We want to welcome them back and say thank you, He added.

SXM Airport — Just as airlift is vital to St. Maarten’s tourism economy, so it is for the recovery process to normalize the situation on the island, to fly in aid and relief goods, food and water, to evacuate tourists and other temporary visitors, workers and their families and to offer an escape for those in urgent need of medical care, for those with young children and elderly family members and for those who have lost everything on the island during the passing of Hurricane Irma.

Although the SXM Airport was badly damaged, the clean up of the runway was quickly organized and military aircrafts, such as CC-130 Hercules aircrafts, and humanitarian flights were soon landing on the airport. The Dutch Marines moved quickly to put the airport under military command. The Minister of Justice approved a list of airlines that would be allowed to land at the airport to fly out passengers.

Luckily,Air Traffic Controller Tower SXM Airport with Coast Guard the air traffic control (ATC) tower did not incur any major damage. With the assistance of the ATC in San Juan, Puerto Rico, flights were quickly organized into SXM Airport. Military aircrafts could be seen landing daily into St. Maarten and many evacuation flights were executed. Even pets and other animals managed to be evacuated by caring travelers departing the island.

Many news and camera crews arrived on the island on military aircrafts. Initially, mainly from Curacao and Holland on Dutch Marine and Coast Guard aircrafts as his royal highness, the King of the Kingdom of The Netherlands arrived on St. Maarten on Monday night with the press in his entourage. Quickly, other press agencies, including CNN arrived on the island.

On Thursday, September 14th, a news crew from ABC News flew in from Puerto Rico on a private charter operated by Tradewind Aviation with the assistance of AirStMaarten and Halley Aviation Services. If St. Maarten was not already on the map, it is definitely now at the center of world with millions of viewers getting daily reports on the devastation caused by one of the most powerful hurricanes seen in the past 30 years with record-breaking storm statistics. The damage is already estimated to be well over 2,5 billion US dollars.

An image that will remained ingrained in the minds of many people is that of hundreds of people queuing up to be evacuated off the island. This situation has left many with mixed feelings ranging from anger to despair to sighs of relief. Long lines formed for days after the hurricane at the SXM Airport. The military exercised strict control over the situation and at no time did things get our of hand at the airport. So far all people stranded on the island have managed to be evacuated. Either via Curacao to The Netherlands or via San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the USA.

Local airline company Winair, despite having undergone complete devastation of its head offices at the SXM Airport leaving only the mangled remains of the structure behind, executed evacuation flights to Antigua for passengers connecting to the UK and also to St. Kitts and later to Saba and St. Eustatius.

Noteworthy, is the actions of the Dominican airline company, PAWA, that flew non-stop after the hurricane to fly in aid and relief goods and to evacuate and repatriate Dominicanos living on St. Maarten with their MD80 aircraft.

Other airlines operating evacuation flights were American Airlines, Jetblue and Delta Airlines. Also many private jet aircrafts were seen landing and taking off from the SXM Airport as well.

It is clear that the SXM Airport, despite the crippled infrastructure caused by the damages to the main terminal building’s arrival and departure halls, is playing a vital role in getting people out of the country and the necessary aid, help and relief into Hurricane Irma Damages SXM Airportthe island.

With the demand for more airlift in the form of military, humanitarian, commercial and private flights, the military and the local authorities will have to make all efforts to get the SXM Airport fully operational again and this port will be critical to the recovery and rebuilding process St. Maarten will have to undergo to allow the flow of cargo, tourists and US dollars back into the country and into the island’s local economy.

GREAT BAY - SCELL, the University of St. Martin’s School of Continuing Education and Life Long Learning supports tourism with the launch of its Heritage, Culture and History boot camp on October 24 and 25 from 8.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on November 9 and 10. The education-based boot camp will provide participants with “cultural intelligence on the island’s historical landmarks, on both the Dutch and French side,” the school says in a press statement. Participants will learn “impressive facts” and “intriguing history” about the island’s culture and that of surrounding islands.

“SCELL is convinced that the 2-day boot camp will directly enhance the island’s Tourism,” SCELL-Director Dr. Natasha Gittens says. “In short, it will ensure that every member of the community interfacing with tourism understands the beautiful heritage, history and culture of their motherland, which in turn will ensure a memorable experience for every guest, vacationer, tourist and traveler to the island. The biggest reward in my opinion is that tourists will want to revisit the island once they hear about all the marvelous activities, landmarks and cultural activities we offer and return for multiple visits. This is a win – win for the island and the vacationers.”

Visitors have indicated time and time again that they want to find out more about the foods of the country, learn about historical monuments, and understand the diverse melting pot of people that reside on the island from all over the world, Gittens said. “They are interested in the facts about our ongoing historical developments and triumphs. However, we need to ensure that the information that is exchanged between the local community and the tourists are facts. This means we are obliged to equip our ambassadors of tourism, the St. Maarten people, with the facts about the history of our beautiful island.”

The boot camp will be facilitated by historians that have academic degrees, studied the history of the island extensively and reside on the island. They will teach participants the “true facts” by engaging them in interactive discussions, introducing videos, films and books and fostering fun, cooperative learning exercises that will reach every learner (i.e. participant) at their individualized level of learning. “SCELL is fully committed to supporting the economic sustainability of the island and this is yet another approach to ensure that an important need is filled as we approach high season,” Gittens stated.

SCELL will offer additional boot camps in October and November. The cost is $399.

Business Writing boot camp, October 11 and 12, Management and Leadership, October 17 and 18, Supervisory boot camp, October 18 and 19, Professional boot camp, October 12 and 13, Email Etiquette boot camp, October 20 and 21, Culture, Heritage and History boot camp, October 24 and 25 and November 9 and 10, Time Management and Project Deadlines boot camp, October 27 and 28.

GREAT BAY – – Earlier this year the SHTA presented the Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication with various initiatives to boost the occupancy during the summer slow season and beyond. The first part of the initiatives included a private public partnership that launched online marketing campaigns through the most visited travel web sites Expedia and TripAdvisor.

These campaigns as of the mid-September resulted in an increase bookings via Expedia of 17% and increase in occupancy tax collected of 24% year over year for the same period, thus showing an excellent return on the investment made by government and private sector. In addition to these on line campaigns, SHTA took four printed ads in USA Today newspaper to support the other efforts.

Unfortunately, this year St. Maarten discontinued the services of our USA marketing representative, leaving the island without a vital marketing presence in traditionally important markets for the island like the East Coast of the U.S. SHTA recognizes the importance of continuity and presence in the marketplace and decided to fund the participation of the former representative in the US to attend important trade shows in that market:

Although online business is very important and continues to grow in prominence, SHTA recognizes that traditional travel agencies and tour operators still drive an enormous amount of business to the island and they should not be abandoned or ignored.

The SHTA is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace.

I would like to recognize the importance of World Tourism Day, which falls on the 27th of September of each year. The theme for 2016 is “Tourism for All – Promoting Universal Accessibility”. It is a conscious reminder to us all around the world to continue to strive for integration in order to improve each other potential in tourism, and to promote a mutual understanding of different cultures and traditions.

We have to be realistic about where we are now as a tourism destination and how we can strive to be better. We must embrace the efforts that have already been made and encourage everyone to continue going in the right direction towards making our Island more accessible. Because tourism, which has grown into the world’s largest industry, St Maarten recognizes the significance of this critically important industry and the positive effects is has and will continue to have on our beautiful Island. Government, the various stakeholders and most importantly the people of this Island, must constantly challenge ourselves to ensure that our tourism product is both environmentally and economically sustainable, and that we continue to offer quality services and products of the highest quality in order to exceed the expectations of our visitors.

However, while these are important goals that we share for our island’ tourism, I would ask that we reflect for a moment on the many person “the elderly and/or the disabled” who are not able to discover the beauty of our island due to limited accessibility to certain places and facilities, which would otherwise have enabled them to enjoy our island to a substantially higher extent while visiting for pleasure. After all, the incipiency of the tourism industry itself was based on the premise of one word: “Discovery”. But should disability, social factors or age be a limiting factor in discovering the beauty of St Maarten?

On September 27th the world will once again be celebrating World Tourism Day, an opportunity for all countries in the world to recognize the importance of tourism as a vessel to foster better “Accessibility for All”, giving us at least one moment to reflect on “Promoting Universal Accessibility”

In St. Maarten, one of the biggest strengths of our tourism industry is the amount of repeat tourists we welcome to our shores. And while it is important to continually attract more tourists in niche markets such as Religion, Sports, Culture and Heritage and Medical Tourism to name a few, we cannot ignore the aging and/or disabled visitors, We must also recognize that our loyal time share owners that have invested in properties on this island, and who are consistently returning to our Island year after year. These visitors who continue to visit our Island, will continue to age and their needs for more accessibility on our island will continue to grow.

In addition, to our stay-over tourist, we must also keep in mind the importance of accessibility for the millions arriving by sea. Cruise lines are among some of the most accessible tourism ventures in the world and their demand for destinations with matching accessibilities will only increase as more destinations are competing within the lucrative Caribbean Cruise market to conform to the accessibility standards.

Reflecting on where we are currently in terms of accessibility and connectivity, I must admit that the primary factor in the phrase “Tourism for All”, is reflected in the visitors’ ability to reach the destination, in terms of connectivity. When connectivity was analyzed based on direct international connections to and from a destination, St Maarten ranked 7th and we were recently named “Caribbean Airport of The Year 2016.

The management teams of the Princess Juliana International Airport operating company and the St Marten Harbour Holding Company have done an excellent job in ensuring that the visitors have a safe arrival and departure from our Airport and Sea Port facilities. We can also see that several local businesses have improved accessibility with reserved parking for the disabled, and wheelchair ramps and elevators as well as accessible friendly restrooms for the disabled. We look forward to seeing more of such private sector initiatives.

Still, there is always room for improvement. We can definitely identify some areas that we may want to look at when providing better accessibility for all. The way in which we can improve this will differ from business to business, but my message is about us taking the time to identify why we need to make St Maarten more accessible for all and how we can do this ourselves.

I would like to stress that this premise should not only be limited to our visitors but to our local residents as well. I am a firm believer that we must also ensure that the residents on our island are also given the same consideration. Our elderly and/or disabled residents must also be able to enjoy the same degree of access as everyone else. As the saying goes: “Charity begins at Home” and if we want to implement accessibility policies for our tourists, we should simultaneously ensure that access for our residents to non-accessible areas are also improved. After all, one of the major touted benefits of the tourism industry is it potential to improve the land not just for tourists, but also for its inhabitants.

While we continue today to enjoy the growth of our tourism industry which enables us to sustain our way of life, I believe that as a nation we should not forget those who experience physical challenges when trying to discover the beautiful beaches and nature of our island, when seeking to experience the cultural diversity that we are so proud of as well as the many other delights that hundreds of thousands experience on our island each year.

I encourage everyone to continue to strive to truly be the “Friendly Island” in every way including being “accessibility friendly to all our visitors and our people.

Finally, I invite everyone to celebrate this glorious day “World Tourism Day” and to be part of the promotion of tourism and the development of universal accessibility for all. I wish each and everyone on this beautiful Island a Happy World Tourism Day.

SABA–The number of visitors to Saba has declined over the past years, which is the reason for the Saba Government and Tourism Commissioner Bruce Zagers to assume a hands-on approach to boost the visitor figures. The result is the Tourism Action Plan 2016-2018, a copy of which was presented to Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp on Monday.

~ Cooperation with St. Maarten stakeholders ~

St. Maarten plays an important role in the plan. Reliable figures on the number of visitors are presently lacking, which makes it difficult to determine the performance of tourism, but according to the report dated August 27 it is clear that tourism has been declining in past years.

The report gives as examples the fact that two of the three dive shops in Saba are for sale and are barely operational, and the fact that only two full-time dive boats are currently operational whereas in the past there were seven. Also, in the past five years the average number of flights per day has been reduced from five to four and trips by The Edge ferry have decreased from five times a week to three. In addition, one of the hotels has closed and only a few additional hotel rooms have been created in terms of short-term rental cottages.

The Saba Marine Park reported that the number of dives per year has decreased in recent years. “It can be concluded that steps need to be taken to revive tourism in Saba with or without accurate statistical information. The Island Government intends to promote and stimulate economic development. This opinion has also been expressed by the Dutch Government.

An improved tourism sector would provide many opportunities for employment and economic development,” it is stated in the Tourism Action Plan 2016-2018. The 12-page document provides a clear vision of the way forward in the short term. Stakeholders were involved in the process by conducting interviews with the Commissioner of Tourism and incorporating their achievable opinions into one document as a starting point for improvements.

The plan will continue to be a working document and will, as much as possible, include the input of the stakeholders, to make it a well informed and efficient process. Saba is famous for its diving and hiking, but there are also other attractions that could be further developed such as retreats, conferences, sport fishing, zip-lining, rock climbing and bird watching. The Saba Government will actively support these other avenues. Factors like safety, family-friendliness, tranquillity and the great dining possibilities on the island should be part of the “Saban identity.”

St. Maarten

The Tourism Action Plan focuses on three target groups: the yachting industry, day-trippers and overnight guests. The plan aims to achieve improvements in Saba itself, but it also actively involves St. Maarten and St. Barths, the two closest destinations with a successful tourism industry.

Especially St. Maarten is important to Saba. Not only do the vast majority of day-trippers and overnight guests come through St. Maarten, but the larger sister island also has an industry that is particularly interesting to Saba: the yachts. “We need to attract more (mega) yachts to Saba.

Based on meetings with stakeholders in St. Maarten, we came to the conclusion that we need to focus on two factors to achieve that: facilities and marketing.” Fort Bay Harbour plays a crucial role in attracting more yachts to Saba, and as such a number of clear steps have been set in the Tourism Plan. The Harbour management has to be professionalised and commercialised with the help of an external expert and an exchange programme with Port St. Maarten. A log will be established so visiting yachts can reserve docking space, and a website will be created for the Harbour. Security at the Harbour will be improved at night, the existing moorings strengthened and 12 additional moorings installed. External funds will be sought to place a VHF repeater tower on Mount Scenery to ensure that yachts at Wells Bay and Ladder Bay can communicate with the Harbour. Options will be explored to set up a water taxi service. Funds will be sought from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment to do small maintenance at the new pier and to reorganise the Customs Office so visitors can wait inside instead of outside. Fort Bay will be beautified with the placing of benches.

Overall, the cleanliness and organisation of the Harbour needs a boost. External funds will also be sought to reinforce the roof of the new commercial building to facilitate parking. Marinas Saba needs to be more intensively promoted at the marinas in St. Maarten and St. Barths. Promotional material will be prepared for marinas and boat crews. “Marinas are interested to disperse the flyers and tell us that there are a lot of potential yacht owners interested in visiting Saba, but that there is limited information.”

Possibilities will be explored to set up a billboard in St. Maarten to promote Saba as a yachting destination. A familiarisation trip will be organised for boat crews and marinas, while a promotional video is being planned. Yachters’ guidebooks will be approached to include Saba. And last, but not least, the Saba Regatta will be revived.

Saba wants to give more attention to persons visiting the island for a day. Day-trippers need to be accommodated as much as possible so they have an excellent experience which will have a positive influence on their return to the island. Day-trippers will receive a warm welcome at the Harbour from a welcoming agent or a “friendly” face that will greet the visitors, answer any questions and facilitate excursions. An outlet with information will be placed at the Harbour.

The Saba Government will continue to lobby for faster clearance procedures for day-trippers. Daytrip brochures for Saba are being finalised and will be placed at activity desks in St. Maarten and St. Barths. Familiarisation trips will be organised for persons working at these activity desks and other stakeholders in the tourism industry on the two neighbouring islands.

The actions focused on the yachting industry and on day-trippers will also have a long-term effect on the number of overnight guests. An additional number of actions will be taken specifically to increase this target group, including the lobbying with Winair for flights between Saba and St. Barths in the high season, more flights from St. Maarten and lower air fares. Package trips The Saba Government will encourage stakeholders to set up package trips to Saba from St. Maarten and St. Barths.

Investments will be made in dive packages with St. Maarten and St. Barths. This will include a familiarisation trip. The decompression chamber needs to be operational and promoted more. Furthermore, the Government will actively support and promote new initiatives taken by stakeholders, such as Saba Restaurant Week, Taste of Saba, the Saba Regatta, as well as existing initiatives such as Sea and Learn, Saba Day, Carnival and the Saba Triathlon. “More can be done by Government to promote these initiatives.”

Commissioner Zagers emphasised in the conclusion that the Tourism Action Plan depended on the support of everyone involved to be successful – not only the Saba Government and its departments, but also the Dutch Government, the local service-providing stakeholders and the stakeholders carrying out controls such as Customs and Immigration. “With the support of all parties involved considerable improvements can be made in the short term that will result in an improved tourism industry.”

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